MOMO Mizrahi
MOMO Mizrahi, also stylized as M.O.M.O. (Multiple Observative Mimetic Organicus), is a major character in the Xenosaga series. MOMO is the prototype 100-Series Realian created by Joachim Mizrahi and Juli Mizrahi before the Miltian Conflict in the year 4753 T.C. on Proto Merkabah, and possesses the Y-Data. She was modeled after Sakura Mizrahi, the late daughter of the Mizrahis. MOMO was created to act as a link between Sakura's mind and the world so that Sakura could communicate. ''Xenosaga Episode I'' MOMO is first seen on Pleroma as the prisoner of Margulis and the U-TIC Organization. There, she resides in a cell where Margulis addresses her as "100-Series Realian" to which she replies that she does not like that name. Margulis tells MOMO that he is interested in her Y-Data. Ziggurat 8 later arrives and rescues her after defeating the guards that patrol her cell, and MOMO reveals her name to him, stating that it is what her "daddy" called her. They later take shelter in a room to avoid being seen by the guards, and MOMO gives him the name Ziggy, stating that it is more suitable for a real human, in contrast to his model number. While attempting to escape from Pleroma, MOMO and Ziggy encounter some A.G.W.S. units. MOMO then uses her Hilbert Effect ability to destroy their external sensors, but is weakened in the process due to the cross interference that it caused. Ziggy then defeats the A.G.W.S. units with MOMO's help and they proceed to escape the planet. However, when they are almost at the ship, Margulis confronts them and they battle. In the commotion that the fight causes, MOMO and Ziggy escape Pleroma, but are followed by many of the U-TIC ships. Aboard the Elsa, Shion Uzuki, Allen Ridgeley, chaos, and the others aboard the ship notice the battle in hyperspace. Ziggy's ship then gets shot down, and, believing that they are going to die, apologizes to MOMO about not keeping her safe. MOMO replies that it is fine, and thanks him for everything he has done for her. Ziggy then asks her if she is afraid, to which MOMO replies that she is a little scared, but is okay due to his being there. The Elsa then catches the falling ship at the last moment and, after some commotion, brings them inside. There, Shion, chaos, and KOS-MOS meet up with each other and introduce themselves before stopping the Auto-Tech invasion. They then meet up with the rest of the crew where MOMO and Ziggy properly thank them for the rescue. While the crew is eating dinner on the ship, Tony finds out that it was, in fact, MOMO who was piloting the ship instead of Ziggy. Shion then notices MOMO's uniform and asks if she is from the Mizrahi Lab, to which she replies that she is and introduces herself as an Observational Realian. Captain Matthews then asks where the two are headed, and they ask them to take them to Second Miltia. When the Elsa stops at the Dock Colony to repair their ship, Andrew Cherenkov is injured by some "streek punks." Seeing that he is injured, MOMO attempts to cure him, but to MOMO's disappointment, refuses, claiming that he is "not a big fan" of nanosurgery. Ziggy then asks her to give him a tune-up, and soon reveals that he is comfortable with her looking him over because of the purity of her heart. Later in the game, the crew boards the Durandal where Jr. allows them to view the Zohar Emulators. In the conversation regarding Joachim Mizrahi, Jr. describes him as a "lunatic" who invited the Gnosis into the galaxy, leaving the rest of the people to pay for his ambitions. MOMO walks out on this, and states to herself, "Daddy... Daddy wasn't like that." Shion later finds MOMO in the park, pondering over the meaning of her existence. She comforts her by telling her her belief that even though Realians are man-made, function as though they have existed all along, and that Joachim Mizrahi was probably not the evil person that everyone makes him out to be. What Shion says makes MOMO feel better, and she goes back to her normal kind and joyful attitude. Later, Jr. meets up with MOMO and gives her a good luck charm (a bullet) with the inscription "Sayonara, baby!" on it and uses a mysterious power to turn it into a bracelet. MOMO delights in how pretty it is, and thanks him. Soon after, the Kukai Foundation is placed under arrest due to wrongful accusation of conspiring with the Miltian government on an attack on the Galaxy Federation. A group of Federation soldiers board the Durandal; one of them grabs MOMO, and Jr., afraid of MOMO getting hurt, escapes the custody of one of the soldiers, only to get knocked to the ground. MOMO dives into an Encephalon to get KOS-MOS AAA data and sees her father dying. During an attack on the Kukai Foundation by the Gnosis, Albedo Piazzolla catches MOMO and brings her back to the Song of Nephilim. Once at the Song, Albedo intimidates MOMO, hoping for her to faint so he can easily get the Y-Data, a mysterious amount of data placed into MOMO's mind by Joachim Mizrahi, MOMO's creator. At the Song, he murders all of his Kirschwassers and tosses them in his chambers. MOMO finds him sitting comfortably on his "throne", cradling the body of a slain Kirschwasser in his hands, before he snaps one of its arms effortlessly and tosses it aside. To intimidate MOMO, he uses a small knife to saw off his own arm (edited from the North American version and made to look as if he rips it off), which he then regenerates. He then decapitates himself, lets his severed head taunt MOMO, and finally crushes his head underneath one foot before regenerating that too. Albedo is greatly amused by the fact that MOMO wants Jr., or Rubedo, to come and save her. Once MOMO lost consciousness, Albedo began to absorb her mind, learning every thought and memory that MOMO ever had. He continues to absorb her mind until he is interrupted by Jr. and his group. Once they show up, Albedo taunts them, and finally takes part of the Y-Data from MOMO, showing him that Shion Uzuki and KOS-MOS, two members of Jr.'s team, are somehow involved with it; at this moment it appears he gains knowledge of Shion's previous incarnation identity, as well as of KOS-MOS true identity. He climbs back into his E.S. Simeon and fights the group. This is a very difficult battle, because the E.S. Simeon is bigger and more advanced than the A.G.W.S. Units owned by Jr. and his group. Once they defeat Albedo, however, he gets out of the E.S. Simeon and shoots a blue aura at Jr., who retaliates with a red one. Their fight is interrupted by Luis Virgil, the Blue Testament. Virgil insists that Albedo get his job done, and stop playing around with Jr.'s group. Albedo leaves the Song of Nephilim in his E.S. Simeon while Virgil fights Jr.'s group. Once Jr. and MOMO's group escaped the Song of Nephilim and boarded the Durandal, they tried to destroy the Song, but were in shock when their blast deflected off of it. Albedo re-enters the scene in his E.S. Simeon, and summons Proto Merkabah, a large space station that was once home to Joachim Mizrahi and MOMO, using the knowledge he had gained from MOMO's memories. The Song of Nephilim enters a port of Proto Merkabah to help power it, and several Gnosis are absorbed to use an energy source. He uses this station to blow up the entire Galaxy Federation fleet of ships. He sets his next target to nearby planet Second Miltia. However, Jr. tells him to wait before he blows up Second Miltia, so that he can get to Albedo and finish the conflict once and for all. Jr. and his group board Proto Merkabah and reach Albedo in the core room, and he shows the group his will, a shining power that exists within everyone. His, however, was very bright and large. Albedo reminds Jr. of what he did to his comrades during the conflict when he 'broke the link', showing a brief scene of Jr. holding his head with an aura around him that sends the standard URTV units flying. This differs from the events stated in Episode II but it was most likely due to the change in story writer. He fights Jr. and the others personally, but he is defeated after a long and difficult battle. He reveals to the group his motive: To make Jr. pay for abandoning him and the other U.R.T.V.s fourteen years ago. He then reveals Sophie Peithos, a fusion of Proto Merkabah's core and the Gnosis absorbed by the space station. Albedo leaves Jr. to fight this massive beast, and returns to his E.S. Simeon in space. He watches from afar as the space colony plunges toward Second Miltia on a crash course, due to Sophie Peithos' defeat. He watches as the group escapes on the Elsa, and Proto Merkabah self-destructs. ''Xenosaga Episode II'' In Episode II, MOMO is escorted by Jr., Ziggy and chaos to Juli Mizrahi at the U.M.N. Control Center on Second Miltia. MOMO is given a new outfit. Juli wants to examine the Y-Data. However, during the Y-Data examination process, Albedo gets ahold of the Y-Data from MOMO and uses it to recover the hidden planet, Miltia: the place where the Miltian Conflict occurred, and where U-DO and the original Zohar reside. After speaking with Ziggy, Juli's view of MOMO began to change. Ziggy suggested that Juli not see MOMO as an attempt to replace her daughter, but rather as a second daughter. Juli began to open up more to MOMO after that point and began to realize that she was indeed her own unique person and not just a copy of Sakura. After the events in Xenosaga Episode II, Juli decided to live with MOMO and accepted her role as her mother, with Ziggy on standby should a crisis arise. ''Xenosaga Episode III'' MOMO returns as a playable support character, but has extremely minimal effect on the plot. She meets Joachim Mizrahi during a trek in Labyrinthos, and gains some closure on her father. In the ending, she works with Scientia to construct a new non-U.M.N. network. She tells Jr. to say "hello" to Albedo. She waits patiently for Shion's return from her search for Lost Jerusalem. Etymology and influences In Japanese, "momo" means peach or peach blossom. Sakura is Japanese for cherry blossom. Furthermore, the series of Realians that were originally based on Sakura's form and used to create MOMO are known as "Kirschwassers". 'Kirschwasser' is a German word for cherry brandy (Literally, "cherry water"). Albedo calls MOMO "ma belle pêche" which is French for "my beautiful peach". In Xenosaga Episode I, MOMO seems to have been designed as an homage to the magical girl genre. Her outfit was made to resemble a futuristic Japanese schoolgirl's uniform, her weapons appear as magical rods and later as an Ether-based composite bow, and among her Ether skills is the ability to transform into a more powerful version of herself, complete with a colorful costume. When she transforms, it is accompanied by a henshin sequence. Even her name may be a pun on one of the early magical girl shows, Minky Momo or, indeed Namco's own Wonder Momo, and, referring back to her influence, Sakura, from Cardcaptor Sakura. Also, her transformation sequences seem to be similar to Sailor Moon. Transformation Ethers MOMO has access to transformation Ethers in Xenosaga Episode I which are called Star Wind and Starlight. They use 10 EP points, can last 3 turns, and have special abilities. Both of them have their own sets of different spells and when the spell is used, all her attributes are slightly risen. Star Wind provides her with a blue remake of her costume. It is very similar to her original outfit but each individual piece of clothing is different, including her hair piece, with now an aquamarine color. The special Tech that comes with it is called Magic Caster which steals a rare item from a boss. It seems like her wand turns into a fishing rod and she throws the line. When it flashes a picture of her eyes, it means she got the item and pulls back the line, including the item which looks like a present. It is a far range Tech. Starlight is her second transformation spell. This costume is very extravagant. Her hair ornaments are different again and she wears the beautiful top and skirt, along with a giant bow on her back. This costume is a flaming red and orange. Her special Tech for this ether is called MOMO's Kiss. She makes an outline of her face and a giant version of her head appears in front of her. She then whacks it and sends it hurtling through the enemy. This is a far range Tech. Weapons In Episode I, MOMO's weapons are short metal rods with mystical powers. The rods can be used to hit the enemies and have the ability to shoot some sort of musical or petal themed laser beams at the enemies. In Episode II and Episode III, MOMO has discarded the magical rods and replaced them with an Ether-Based Composite Bow. This causes all her attacks to become long range. MOMO's Ether Bow in Episode II bears the name "LEGOLAS" on its surface (a reference to Legolas Greenleaf from Lord of the Rings). MOMO starts with her ether bow again in Episode III; this time the name of this default weapon is Compound VI. Trivia *In Xenosaga Episode I: Reloaded, MOMO can unlock a Kirschwasser outfit. It can be found during the Song of Nephilim section. While playing through this section, make your way into the third tower. In here, you should be able to find and unlock the Kirschwasser outfit. *According to the database in Xenosaga Episode III, MOMO's third appearance is made finalized by a transgenic-type Realian, which are Realians that are half-humans. Due to the having the mix of human genes in her body, MOMO is possibly capable of aging into an older woman, and potentially conceive a child, making MOMO a unique entity of a Realian. *In Episode II, MOMO exhibits impressive driving skills. *MOMO appears with Shion and KOS-MOS in Namco x Capcom, in their appearances from Episode I. MOMO forms a single unit along with Shion, and supports her with her abilities.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfqZHinZWO0 *MOMO appears in Super Robot Taisen OG Saga, Endless Frontier EXCEED with KOS-MOS, this time in her Episode III outfit. Unlike KOS-MOS, who is a player character, MOMO is a supporting unit, using her bow and Star Wind transformation from Episode I to assist in attacks. Quotes * "Here you go!" * "I feel more like a combat model these days." * "I'm gonna try hard for everyone!" * "Mystic powers, grant me a miracle!" * "Bullseye!" * "I don't like that name." (to Margulis) * "I'm not a tool that you can just use!" (to Margulis during the boss fight) * "I never got to meet Daddy, but he used to talk to me all the time before I was born. It's all a little hazy, but I remember him telling me that… I could become a real person if I did good deeds…" * "Why do you hurt people? My sisters... they all loved something they saw in you. And even after all that you put them through, they still believed in you... how... how could you desecrate their feelings?! Their hearts!" (to Albedo) * "Artificial... personality?" * "My heart is just an optional function?" * "Shion... what is that!? It's horrible!" (seeing Cecily and Cathe) Gallery Xenosaga Episode I Song2.jpg|Art. MOMOBunnie.png|MOMO and Bunnie. Ep1_concept.jpg|Concept art. Girls.png|MOMO with KOS-MOS and Shion. MOMO has a Bunnie frying pan. MoZig.png|MOMO and Ziggy. MOMOGif.gif|MOMO nicknames Ziggurat 8. MOMOfly.gif|MOMO having an existential crisis. KirschMOMO.png|MOMO and a Kirschwasser. Knife.png|Albedo threatens to slit MOMO's throat with a knife. Boo.gif|Boo! MOMOcostume.png|Costumes. Nxc-momo.jpg|MOMO in Namco x Capcom. MOMOFreaks.jpg|MOMO in Xenosaga Freaks. Ds_teehee.jpg|''Xenosaga DS''. 09a.jpg|''Xenosaga DS''. Momo_back.jpg|''Xenosaga DS''. Xenosaga717.png|MOMO and Ziggy. C_momo.jpg|''Xenosaga DS''. Xenosaga: The Animation MoCell.png|MOMO held captive by Margulis. MomoGaignun.png|Gaignun Kukai promises to look after MOMO. MoBun.png|MOMO and Bunnie. MOMOtransform.png|MOMO in the Encephalon. MOMOJr.png|MOMO comforting Jr. Mo1.png|MOMO kidnapped. Mo2.png|MOMO kidnapped. Mo3.png|Albedo puts a gun to MOMO's head. Mo4.png|Albedo wipes MOMO's tears. MoSis.png|MOMO devastated. MoSis2.png|MOMO devastated. MOsis3.png|MOMO devastated. MoSis4.png|MOMO devastated. Xenosaga Episode II Momo2art.png|Art. Momo2.png|''Episode II''. Momo2.jpg|''Episode II''. Momo_swim.png|''Episode II'' swimsuit. CPR.png|Juli giving MOMO CPR. MOMOJrCute.jpg|MOMO and Jr. Xenosaga Episode III MOMO3Concept.jpg|''Episode III'' concept art. momo7191010. Png|''Episode III''. MOMOSwimsuit.jpg|''Episode III'' swimsuit. MOMO_battle.png|MOMO in battle. Mizrahi, MOMO Category:Female characters Category:Playable characters Category:Realians